Switcher Saturday 10-1-22

MTH PS2 NY Central GP9 hauling Williams NY Central passenger cars to Yankee Stadium:

There will be many trains like this taking Yankee fans who want to see Aaron Judge hit #62. Arnold

@Arnold D. Cribari

That's a nice ball field Arnold. I'd love to see more details. Could you take some pictures and post them?

@Wood posted:

@Arnold D. Cribari

That's a nice ball field Arnold. I'd love to see more details. Could you take some pictures and post them?

Delighted to do that, Wood, but will do so on a different thread. In fact, you can see them by searching for and visiting the thread: Baseball and Trains (the one I started in December 2017). Arnold

Rock Island BL-2 x 2.

New York Central Lines A5 0-4-0 steam switcher #901 is an MTH Premier model (20-3281-1) with PS2 that was advertised in the 2007 Volume 1 catalog at an MSRP of $599.95. Mine also has a BCR.

I could not find pictures or data for a New York Central 0-4-0 switcher similar to the MTH model. Its builder’s plate reads “Juniata Shops.” Eventually, I realized that this is an MTH Pennsylvania Railroad A5 model from which the Belpaire firebox has been removed and replaced by a standard radial-stay firebox. A PRR Belpaire firebox on a New York Central engine might not have been well-received by New York Central fans. I give MTH credit for doing the job properly rather than just painting New York Central on the tender. Although the model is not prototypical, it is nicely detailed and runs smoothly.

Pennsylvania Railroad A5s were built between 1916 and 1924, years after mainline railroads such as the New York Central were no longer buying 0-4-0s. PRR A5s were used on the streets and sharply curved industrial sidings of Philadelphia where larger locomotives could not go. By contrast with 0-4-0s of other railroads, the PRR engines were modern – with piston valves, superheaters and, in later years, power reverse. The engine weight was 131,750 pounds, and they produced 30,190 pounds of tractive force with 185 psi steam pressure and 50-inch driving wheels.

The videos show the model running at 21 scale miles-per-hour and creeping along at 6 scale miles-per-hour - under conventional control.

MELGAR

Good morning SwSat fans!  The Faithful will remember I mentioned the EMD GP7 replaced the EMD BL2 in last week’s post.  That is the segue I needed to show you my GP7 collection today.

MEC no. 562 is a Lionel model and B&M 1555 and CNJ no. 1524 were built by MTH.  The MTH engines have both been converted to PS3, but for different reasons.

B&M 1555 was a circa 1999 PS1 model that ran well for about 15 years until the day came it refused to move.  CNJ 1524 was a nice running 3 volt PS2 engine until I pinched a wire replacing the shell after changing a cab light.  It eventually shorted and killed the board.

Those who pay attention to detail may notice a couple of flaws.  B&M 1555 did not have dynamic brakes and Lionel should have painted MEC 562 in a more orange/yellow hue.  This doesn’t bother me because they are both fine looking and running models.  I appreciate fine detail, but I think absolute fidelity to prototype trains limits your choices and spoils the fun of collecting what you like.  Just one man’s opinion.

John

Happy Switcher Sat, everyone!  It was a crazy  week down here with the hurricane so I don’t have any new pics  but here is some archived video of my GP 20 pulling out military freight from the yard heading for action -

Prayers out to all those on the west coast of Florida and up in the Carolinas that ultimately took a direct hit from Ian

Is there a size limitation for an O Gauge switcher?

The reason I ask is that I have several large engines with front and back electrocouplers that are great for switching duties on my layout. One of them is a huge FM Trainmaster.

Could such a large locomotive with front and back electrocouplers be categorized as a switcher?

Yay! SWSat is on!  

Nice start this week. I like the fall and New England theme has returned. @MELGAR I know the feeling of disappointment when things are not what you think they are. The NYC/Pennsy A5 does look very nice. @Steamcrazy /John that is a very nice collection of New England roadswitchers you have going there.

This week I was playing with making some black and white pictures look older. Here is a Illinois Central 2-4-4F forney from Gem in 2 rail o scale.

Once I get it it running how I like it I’ll get it to the paint shop.

Slightly off topic but yesterday I found myself downtown and a certain famous fire house has its Halloween decoration up.

There are no trains in the shot but the IRT subway runs under the street between the firehouse and that tan building. I did not check if the Ecto-One was home.

Have a great weekend. I can’t wait to see what you guys post.

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Is there a size limitation for an O Gauge switcher?

The reason I ask is that I have several large engines with front and back electrocouplers that are great for switching duties on my layout. One of them is a huge FM Trainmaster.

Could such a large locomotive with front and back electrocouplers be categorized as a switcher?

A Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster was a large, heavy, powerful road locomotive that would not generally have been used for switching. Smaller, less powerful road-switcher locomotives such as the ALCo RS-3, S-2 and Electro-Motive Division GP7, GP9 were more efficient for switching but also had sufficient power to be used on the railroad and outside the yards. I often post pictures of road-switcher models on Switcher Saturday but think that they really don't qualify as switchers. I would say that the best definition of a "switcher" is a locomotive used primarily for switching operations in a yard. Perhaps O gauge switchers are another matter.

MELGAR

Happy SWSat!

Prayers to all in Ian's path. My daughter's boy friend is in Fort Meyers, no flooding but two trees came down and did some minor damage. They are luckier than most.

So back to the trains. I just picked up a neat little critter that hopefully arrives by next Saturday. Stay tuned for pix and the back story.

Nothing new going on this week. It's a rain out here as Ian finally wanders north and out of our lives. Maybe I can get down to the layout and get it back in running condition.

Going through the archives I found a short video of a couple of steamers doing their thing.

I'm trying google photos for the first time to share videos over the 100MB forum limit. Click on the link below to view. Hope it works. Haven't figured out how to embed directly yet.

Here's my K-line A5 and a MTH 0-4-0 tank shuttling some cars around the layout.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UBtDCe8DThhU84D68

Bob

The new Lionel Trackmobile. Lionel 1656 the best Post War small switcher Lionel ever made.

Working the scrapyard. Have a great weekend everyone!

Pennsylvania U36 moving some empty Hoppers, Have a good Saturday, buy a Vet a Beer.

@MELGAR posted:

A Fairbanks-Morse Trainmaster was a large, heavy, powerful road locomotive that would not generally have been used for switching. Smaller, less powerful road-switcher locomotives such as the ALCo RS-3, S-2 and Electro-Motive Division GP7, GP9 were more efficient for switching but also had sufficient power to be used on the railroad and outside the yards. I often post pictures of road-switcher models on Switcher Saturday but think that they really don't qualify as switchers. I would say that the best definition of a "switcher" is a locomotive used primarily for switching operations in a yard. Perhaps O gauge switchers are another matter.

MELGAR

So Switcher Saturday is open to switchers of all scales and gauges.   What classifies as a Switcher is somewhat debatable. 

As described above switchers are generally smaller machines either captive to a yard or industrial area.  Road switchers can do much of the same work being lighter and capable of tighter curves then mainline engines but also more powerful and carrying more fuel then a dedicated Switcher. So a road switcher would work the local deliveries and often be the main power on a branch line.

In some cases large power road units are pressed in switching services.   A classic example is the Amtrak auto train.   Amtrak uses Dash 8 locomotives to switch the auto carriers.   No one would normally consider a locomotive as big as a dash 8 a switcher, but that's what how they are used.

I wouldn't consider a FM trainmaster a switcher, but FM made several units that clearly are switchers.   

Worst one to classify in my opinion is the PRR transfer diesel. It is a center cab unit, it's meant to be a heavy duty switcher, but is as long as E8!

Usually Switcher Saturday centers around relatively small locomotives and road switchers.   I hope this helps foster discussion.  Cheers everybody!

Thanks for the input on what constitutes a switcher.

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Late start this morning   Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) is in charge of a high and wide load today:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tom

@jhz563 posted:

So Switcher Saturday is open to switchers of all scales and gauges.   What classifies as a Switcher is somewhat debatable.

In some cases large power road units are pressed in switching services.   A classic example is the Amtrak auto train.   Amtrak uses Dash 8 locomotives to switch the auto carriers.   No one would normally consider a locomotive as big as a dash 8 a switcher, but that's what how they are used.

Cheers everybody!

In case anyone was wondering.....

@jhz563 posted:

So Switcher Saturday is open to switchers of all scales and gauges.   What classifies as a Switcher is somewhat debatable.

As described above switchers are generally smaller machines either captive to a yard or industrial area.  Road switchers can do much of the same work being lighter and capable of tighter curves then mainline engines but also more powerful and carrying more fuel then a dedicated Switcher. So a road switcher would work the local deliveries and often be the main power on a branch line.

In some cases large power road units are pressed in switching services.   A classic example is the Amtrak auto train.   Amtrak uses Dash 8 locomotives to switch the auto carriers.   No one would normally consider a locomotive as big as a dash 8 a switcher, but that's what how they are used.

I wouldn't consider a FM trainmaster a switcher, but FM made several units that clearly are switchers.   

Worst one to classify in my opinion is the PRR transfer diesel. It is a center cab unit, it's meant to be a heavy duty switcher, but is as long as E8!

Usually Switcher Saturday centers around relatively small locomotives and road switchers.   I hope this helps foster discussion.  Cheers everybody!

You beat me to it.

The PRR used their 2500 HP transfer engines to shuttle long consist of car from one yard to another at longer distances.

This image is a feeling of relative sizes.  My diesel& electric  switcher roster.

Ron

Define “switcher”?  Last December I posted this photo of B&M Mogul no.1455 towing two Alco RS3s.  It was inspired by a scene in a video I own.  The narrator said the B&M designated the Mogul as “the yard switcher of the day”.

I vote for making the definition of “switcher” as broad as possible so we can see all kinds of interesting engines (but I might balk if you post a Big Boy)!

John

I regret having tried to define a switcher. It just seems to lead to endless discussion and differences of opinion. But I think it's useful to have a concise definition and also to acknowledge that even the largest road locomotives have been used for switching in particular situations - but that doesn't make them switchers. In the case of Steam Crazy's B&M Mogul, yes, they often were used to switch cars in and out of the trains they pulled. For Switcher Saturday a broader definition applies. If you think a certain locomotive is a switcher, I would like to see it on SWSAT.

MELGAR

@jhz563 posted:

So Switcher Saturday is open to switchers of all scales and gauges.   What classifies as a Switcher is somewhat debatable.

As described above switchers are generally smaller machines either captive to a yard or industrial area.  Road switchers can do much of the same work being lighter and capable of tighter curves then mainline engines but also more powerful and carrying more fuel then a dedicated Switcher. So a road switcher would work the local deliveries and often be the main power on a branch line.

In some cases large power road units are pressed in switching services.   A classic example is the Amtrak auto train.   Amtrak uses Dash 8 locomotives to switch the auto carriers.   No one would normally consider a locomotive as big as a dash 8 a switcher, but that's what how they are used.

I wouldn't consider a FM trainmaster a switcher, but FM made several units that clearly are switchers.   

Worst one to classify in my opinion is the PRR transfer diesel. It is a center cab unit, it's meant to be a heavy duty switcher, but is as long as E8!

Usually Switcher Saturday centers around relatively small locomotives and road switchers.   I hope this helps foster discussion.  Cheers everybody!

I can’t post pictures of them here but Norfolk Western converted several of their FM Trainmasters to yard slugs at the end of their service lives. These toiled away switching hoppers at Lamberts Point in Norfolk VA into the early 1980’s. I believe one even made it into preservation at the VA RR Museum in Roanoke.

They looked very different from the handrails up but they would definitely be considered switchers by the railroad.

I of course say this to mess all of the conversation up with a “Well Actually”. 😝  

I posted something similar in the past.

The PRR's H6 Consolidations were the Pennsy's primary road engine from 1899 to about 1910, when the much larger H8s started to take over.  The H6s were then relegated to local and branch line service for most of the rest of their life sharing that duty with the H8/9/10 when those were replaced in mainline service by I1s, L1s, and N1s and N2s.

A few of the super heated H6sa and H6sb lasted until the early 1950s, most finishing their careers as switchers.

MELGAR, you should have no regrets about trying to answer a difficult question!  Your answer made perfect sense.  It's not your fault SwSat nation is made up of a bunch of wild & crazy guys that want to call anything on rail a switcher!

John

For the record, BNSF uses big road engines for switching duties in Mojave, CA just above the famous “Tehachapi Loop” where BNSF and UP bring massive freights from the San Joachin Valley up to the high desert. Mojave was also where the twenty-mule-teams brought Borax wagon loads to the nearest railhead back in the day.  I have never seen a road switcher or smaller diesel working there, although of course it is possible. A great train-watching area for sure!

@MELGAR posted:

I regret having tried to define a switcher. It just seems to lead to endless discussion and differences of opinion. But I think it's useful to have a concise definition and also to acknowledge that even the largest road locomotives have been used for switching in particular situations - but that doesn't make them switchers. In the case of Steam Crazy's B&M Mogul, yes, they often were used to switch cars in and out of the trains they pulled. For Switcher Saturday a broader definition applies. If you think a certain locomotive is a switcher, I would like to see it on SWSAT.

MELGAR

This works 🙂.

Mel - you should regret nothing in this thread.  A little lighthearted conversation just makes everything more interesting!

@Tom Densel posted:

Good morning SWSAT crew!

Late start this morning   Penn Central GP9 7180 (Atlas O) is in charge of a high and wide load today:

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tom

Good looking scene Tom.

Thanks for sharing.

@MELGAR posted:

I regret having tried to define a switcher. It just seems to lead to endless discussion and differences of opinion. But I think it's useful to have a concise definition and also to acknowledge that even the largest road locomotives have been used for switching in particular situations - but that doesn't make them switchers. In the case of Steam Crazy's B&M Mogul, yes, they often were used to switch cars in and out of the trains they pulled. For Switcher Saturday a broader definition applies. If you think a certain locomotive is a switcher, I would like to see it on SWSAT.

MELGAR

No regrets, Mel. I really appreciate your switcher Saturday history lessons and train tutorials. Keep them coming with your excellent posts.  As for what we consider a switcher for switcher Saturday, my vote is with you and Steam Crazy. If you use your engine as a switcher on your fantasy layout, then so be it and let’s see those pics!

My other vote would be to prohibit  @RSJB18 from ever submitting a post with a link to a photo app and require him to include and upload all of his most excellent future videos within his posts.   But hey, that’s how I roll.

@Strap Hanger posted:

My other vote would be to prohibit  @RSJB18 from ever submitting a post with a link to a photo app and require him to include and upload all of his most excellent future videos within his posts.   But hey, that’s how I roll.

If I could fit bigger, most excellent, video files in the post, I would. I refuse to start a Youtube channel for personal reasons.

But- that's how I roll too.....

Thanks Strap.

Bob

I have a friend who hired on as a brakeman in the Southern Pacific Oakland yard during the summer between college semesters.  He said that the SP sometimes used cab forwards (4-8-8-2) as switchers in the yard.  This was a long time ago.  I wouldn't call a cab forward a switcher, however.  I suppose that just about any engine could be used as a switcher if the need arises.  NH Joe

Hello fellow switcher fans!  I'm a late arrival today and have really enjoyed what you all have posted!  Thanks JHZ563 for notching out the throttle in the wee a.m.!  

Great discussion on qualifications of a switcher.  That topic comes up from time to time and it's always enjoyable as everyone chimes in with their thoughts.

Today I have a few pics of switchers doing their thing.  Have a terrific  weekend everyone!  I'm keeping those in Ian's path in my thoughts.  

An old dusty B&O Docksider is on assignment pulling gondolas of rocks from a quarry to a crusher.  

A freshly painted C&O  0-8-0 is pulling a log cars.  

Patapsco & Back Rivers VO 1000 running lite on the mainline.

PB&R VO 1000 makes it's way across a grade crossing .

When you are stricken with the incurable Switcheritis disease, like me, and see this MTH Premier PS3 Boston & Maine diesel switcher at a LHS or train show, you will buy it whatever the price - LOL:

Well, I'm glad I did. Just look at it gliding along the rails with its New England boxcars in tow.

IMO, if one has a primarily switcher style layout with 031 curves, like me, you can't go wrong with switchers, whether diesel or steam. They hardly ever derail and run beautifully on layouts like mine. For that reason, they are my favorite locomotives. Arnold

@MELGAR posted:

New York Central Lines A5 0-4-0 steam switcher #901 is an MTH Premier model (20-3281-1) with PS2 that was advertised in the 2007 Volume 1 catalog at an MSRP of $599.95. Mine also has a BCR.

MELGAR

Good looking little A5 Melgar.

I'm liking the look of that trestle too.

Mel, I agree with Dallas.  That is one handsome little switcher.  The sounds made appear to be moving faster than it was.  Have you ever posted the one you bought at the Westchester show when several of us met for lunch afterward?  That get together was one of Arnold's best ideas.

Andy that 2-4-4F looks cool.  Can't wait for it's trip to the shop for a fresh coat of paint.

Bob, watched the video.  The little docksider running rear end first has me believing your heading towards an 0-4-0 cab forward kinda like D500s.

Thank you all for posting your wonderful switchers again this week.

@coach joe posted:

Mel, I agree with Dallas.  That is one handsome little switcher.  The sounds made appear to be moving faster than it was.  Have you ever posted the one you bought at the Westchester show when several of us met for lunch afterward?

Joe,

That was a Lionel 1615. I did post it once on SWSAT but will do so again sometime soon.

MELGAR

RK SF RSD-4

@coach joe posted:

Mel, I agree with Dallas.  That is one handsome little switcher.  The sounds made appear to be moving faster than it was.  Have you ever posted the one you bought at the Westchester show when several of us met for lunch afterward?  That get together was one of Arnold's best ideas.

Andy that 2-4-4F looks cool.  Can't wait for it's trip to the shop for a fresh coat of paint.

Bob, watched the video.  The little docksider running rear end first has me believing your heading towards an 0-4-0 cab forward kinda like D500s.

Thank you all for posting your wonderful switchers again this week.

Sure....drop another project on my bench.....😂😂😂

I was intrigued by what he did with that 0-4-0.

One day......

😁

Switcher Saturday!!

An old logging SW-1 switcher working at the small saw mill on a Saturday morning in October.

Bob, that's what I'm here for.